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2.51 pm
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Kate Hoey): I am very pleased that my hon. Friend the Member for Northampton, North (Ms Keeble) has been able today to raise the very important subject of family policy. I agree with her wholeheartedly that, although it is a Friday afternoon and there are very few hon. Members in the Chamber--although it is very nice to see my hon. Friend the Member for Luton, South (Ms Moran) here--people feel very strongly and great concern about the issue.
Family life is the foundation on which our communities, our society and our country is built. Families are central to the Government's vision of a secure, just and inclusive society. The House owes a debt to my hon. Friend the Member for Northampton, North for the work that she has done in her own constituency in organising not only the survey but the conference, which has produced such interesting results. The Home Office official who attended the conference found it very interesting and was particularly impressed by the breadth of support shown for it by my hon. Friend's constituents, who were from all walks of life.
The consultation document, "Supporting Families"--which has been mentioned already--was the first ever consultation paper on family policy. The public reaction to it--over 900 responses--has been overwhelming, and, in June, we shall publish a summary document. All the responses that we received will feed into the on-going work on family policy of the ministerial group on the family.
One of most important aims of the consultation was to raise awareness of family and parenting issues--and I think that it has already achieved that aim. My hon. Friend the Member for Northampton, North has led the dialogue on the issues in her own constituency, and a similar dialogue is being held across the United Kingdom--although I should say that the process elsewhere in the country has not yet produced results as detailed or in the same depth as it has in her constituency.
As the consultation process has been under way, we have made progress across a wide range of policy areas that will make a difference to families. My hon. Friend the Member for Northampton, North has already mentioned some examples.
A new National Family and Parenting Institute has been established with £600,000 of strategic funding from the Government. The institute aims to change the culture of parenting, so that seeking advice and information is seen as a sign not of failure, but of responsible parenting.
We have also established a new family support grant--with £7 million, over three years--to improve family support services in the voluntary sector. The grant will help to build infrastructure organisations working to support families, and fund innovative parenting and family support work so that we are able to learn lessons of good practice across the country. It will also support work with boys, young men and fathers--groups in which the ministerial group has identified a particular need for targeted support.
My hon. Friend found that 66.7 per cent. of 25 to 40-year-olds in her constituency would like a national helpline for parents to be established. The Government have given £300,000 to Parentline, to help it to expand into a national helpline for parents.
Parentline will also help the new National Family and Parenting Institute to identify the major problems facing families today through the use of anonymised call data on the issues about which parents call in.
The Government have committed £80 million in 1999-2000 to the sure start initiative for local work with families with young children in some of the most disadvantaged areas. The first 21 trailblazer areas for the sure start programme were announced on 9 April. The projects will start this summer.
In Northampton, 73.6 per cent. of people responding to the survey wanted firms to be more family friendly--an important issue. Since we published "Supporting Families", we have made progress in helping families balance work and home. The Employment Relations Bill will bring in a right to parental leave and time off for urgent domestic reasons and will simplify maternity rights. The Department for Education and Employment is taking forward plans for a wide-ranging campaign to promote family-friendly employment practices. As the Northampton report says, the Government should lead by example as a family-friendly employer. We are working on that in all Government Departments.
One of the key themes in "Supporting Families" was the need to strengthen marriages and support adults in their relationships for the sake of their children. I was interested to learn that 75.7 per cent. of people responding to the survey in Northampton want the Government to intervene to help families when relationships break down.
The proposals in the consultation document were intended to increase the support and advice available throughout people's married lives, and in particular at times of stress such as when first children are born.
The survey in Northampton also revealed that 75 per cent. of respondents wanted Government funding for counselling services for couples in difficulty. As my hon. Friend will know, the Lord Chancellor has initiated a review of Government funding for marriage support services. The review will help us develop a more strategic approach to funding for marriage support.
All the responses to "Supporting Families" will help us as we develop family policy. The ministerial group on the family has already identified some key issues to be addressed over the coming year. In particular, it will be taking forward work on boys, young men and fathers. As we approach the new millennium, the lives of young men are undoubtedly more complex than they were in previous generations: a whole raft of social and economic factors have combined to create a need to find ways of preparing young men better for the realities they will face.
Our primary aim is to recognise the potential of young men to make a positive contribution to society. However, anything we do to help boys must not have an adverse effect on the advances that have been made for young women over recent decades. So, while the ministerial group on the family looks at the needs of young men, the women's unit will be taking forward parallel work looking at the particular needs of young women.
The role of fathers is crucial in this respect. Research has shown that boys who have no contact with their fathers are more likely to be violent, to get hurt, to get into trouble and to do less well at school.
Ms Keeble:
One point that was hotly debated during a discussion about nursery schools was that boys can go through their early-years and primary education without a male educational role model. If they do not have a father at home either, they are very much adrift. Is that thought behind the work of the ministerial team?
Kate Hoey:
I certainly hope so. I shall write to my hon. Friend and tell her exactly what is happening. Even when children are in contact with their father, voluntary organisations have told us that it is more difficult to encourage fathers to participate in parenting support. We want to encourage schemes for fathers and promote recognition of the fact that they have an important part to play.
The ministerial group will be taking forward family policy in providing help for families facing serious problems. In "Supporting Families", we looked at the particular problems of teenage pregnancy, youth offending and domestic violence. We recognise that many other serious problems face families, including mental health problems, disability, alcohol and drug abuse. We shall be looking at those problems to try to ensure joined-up thinking and joined-up services so that families get the help that they need when they need it.
We are grateful to my hon. Friend for her work in raising the profile of family issues in her constituency and for sending us the results of her research. She has provided a useful opportunity to give more publicity to "Supporting Families". What we have learned from Northampton will help us in our attempt to make a difference to the lives of families in the United Kingdom. I congratulate her on the work that she has done in her constituency and on giving us a coherent resume of what her constituents have said. It will be useful as we develop our family policies.
Question put and agreed to.
Adjourned accordingly at one minute past Three o'clock.
Official Report, 18 May 1999: In column 971, Mr. Norman Baker's speech, the fifth sentence in the sixth full paragraph should read:
According to figures from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and from the Meat and Livestock Commission, a comparison of farmgate prices in October 1997 and 1998 shows the price of feed wheat down 13 per cent., lamb down 32 per cent., beef down 18 per cent., pigmeat--suffering particularly badly--down 41 per cent., milk down 12 per cent., eggs down 13 per cent. and broilers down 7 per cent.
In column 974, the first sentence in the fourth full paragraph should read:
There is great worry among local farmers about what genetically modified crops mean for them.
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